Olympia and the South Sound region have a rich newspaper tradition that dates to Sept. 11, 1852. On that date James F. Wiley and T.F. McElroy, early pioneers, founded The Columbian newspaper. That was just two years after Olympia’s founder, Edmund Sylvester, platted the city.

The Columbian lasted only one year and was succeeded by the Washington Pioneer and a string of four other newspapers before ceasing publication in 1873.

68 newspapers

Records show that in the late 1800s there were at least 68 different newspapers serving the Olympia area. Half that number lasted less than two years. At one time the city had six different newspapers in competition - most of them aligned with a specific political party.

Among those early newspapers, The Washington Standard stands out. What distinguishes The Washington Standard from its competitors is its longevity. The Standard, a weekly, operated uninterrupted for more than a half century.

John Miller Murphy was the owner when the newspaper published its first edition on Nov. 17, 1860. In that first edition, settlers learned of Abraham Lincoln’s election to the presidency. In those days, much of the news that was printed came via word-of-mouth or from letters received from the east. Later, editors relied on the teletype as a primary source of information from the outside world.

The Washington Standard, with its six-column, four-page format, was an organ of the Democratic Party, supporting the Union in the Civil War and championing women’s suffrage from its inception.

Competition for news and readers among those early newspapers was fierce. One editor, Thomas Henderson Boyd, “a newsman as well known in parlors as print shops,” was shot and killed in his office. A paramour was charged, but acquitted of the murder.

An agenda

In those crusading days, newspapers were often created simply to push one agenda, one political party or one cause.
Such was the case with the founding of The Evening Olympian on Feb. 16, 1889. Murphy founded the newspaper to lobby the territorial Legislature to name Olympia as the state capital.

At the time, Olympia, the territorial capital, was battling Vancouver, Walla Walla and Seattle for the rights to serve as the permanent home for state government. Murphy’s crusade was successful, but after Washington was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state on Nov. 11, 1889, Murphy’s paper folded.

Officially, today’s Olympian traces its roots to the founding of The Morning Olympian on March 15, 1891, by a group of printers. It’s difficult to trace an exact lineage. Near the turn of the century it was common for newspapers to merge, separate, cease publication for a period of time, and then resume under a different name.

The Olympian also claims kinship with John Miller Murphy’s Washington Standard because Sam Perkins purchased The Standard’s assets in the early 1900s. Perkins also bought out the successors of The Morning Olympian in 1907. He operated two papers, The Olympia Recorder and The Olympian until 1927 when he suspended publication of The Recorder and converted The Olympian from morning to evening publication.

Since that date, The Olympian - also known as The Daily Olympian and The Sunday Olympian - has not relinquished its dominant role as the primary source of news and information in Thurston County.

The Perkins family sold The Olympian and the Bellingham Herald to Federated Publications of Battle Creek, Michigan on April 7, 1967. And in the last change of ownership, the Gannett Company purchased The Olympian on July 1, 1971.

The newspaper moved from its former print site at Capitol Way and State Avenue on May 1, 1972 and publishes a morning edition and an online site seven days a week from its current location at the intersection of Bethel Street and Fourth Avenue. A major remodeling project was completed in the spring of 1999.

The Olympian (ISSN 0746-7575), a Federated Publications newspaper, is published daily and Sunday from the office of The Olympian, 111 Bethel St. NE, Olympia, Washington 98506.

Mailing address: P.O. Box 407, Olympia, WA, 98507.

Periodicals postage paid at Olympia, WA.

Business hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday.

The Olympian is served by The Associated Press, Gannett News Service and The Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service.

•  Senior Management